Image Source: MovieGoods

Synopsis:A thousand years after an apocalyptic war destroyed the earth’s ecosystem, the scattered human survivors are still fighting each other and their environment. Their settlements are separated by impenetrable toxic forests, guarded by giant insects and filled with poisonous plants releasing deadly spores. There is only one girl who does not fear the forests: the princess Nausicaä, of the Valley of the Wind. Seeking to regain control, the war-like Tolmekians plan to resurrect one the legendary Giant Warriors, used in the war but potentially strong enough to defeat the monstrous bugs and destroy the toxic forests. However, prophecy states that the destruction of the forests will only make things worse for the human inhabitants. Can Nausicaä stop the Tolmekians from unleashing the Warrior before it’s too late?

This is an official entry in the week-long Japanese Cinema Blogathon for disaster relief, co-hosted by CinemaFanatic and Japan Cinema. As we all know, Japan was struck with a 9.0 earthquake on March 11, resulting in devastating tsunamis and widespread destruction. Please CLICK HERE to make a donation to the represented charity of your choice to aid Japanese disaster victims, and be sure to click the banner at left to view the other contributions to the blogathon.

I only got word of this blogathon for Japanese earthquake/tsunami relief at the last minute (thanks Eve for alerting me!), but I automatically knew I had to participate. My girlfriend’s brother and his wife, along with their ten-month-old baby, live in Japan, and while they are doing fine and are too far south to have been affected by the earthquake/tsunami, we have been glued to the TV and computer since the quake occurred. (We mostly rely on this English stream of NHK instead of the American news networks, as most of the information coming from the American sources seems to be either factually inaccurate or shamelessly fear-mongering.)

Since this is a fundraising blogathon for a very worthy cause, I wanted to contribute more than one measly post. So for the duration of this blogathon, I will be marathon-reviewing some of the lesser-known masterpieces of Studio Ghibli. Japanese animation is more than Hayao Miyazaki, and Japanese cinema is certainly more than anime. However, this is the last minute, I love the films of Studio Ghibli, and we happen to own twelve of them, so this is the best I can offer. (more…)